Tor: Enabling Anonymity, Fighting Censorship

We believe that the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 19), is universal. It is not restricted to certain means of communication or reserved for those living in certain geographic boundaries under benevolent political circumstances.

In June 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council in a resolution on The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet once again expressed how it is “deeply concerned by all human rights violations and abuses committed against persons for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms on the Internet, and by the impunity for these violations and abuses”. The UN Human Rights Council “affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online”, and “condemns unequivocally measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online in violation of international human rights law and calls on all States to refrain from and cease such measures.“

In this spirit, we strive to support technologies that respect – and foster – human rights, always and everywhere. Tor is one of the most important technologies in this regard, and we value it in our support accordingly.

Tor provides censorship-resistant and safe access to the Internet, enabling hundreds of thousands of people living under authoritarian regimes to access free media every day. It also helps whistleblowers, journalists, bloggers, and especially human rights activists to connect and communicate without fear of repression, imprisonment, or worse. Tor is recommended by organizations such as Reporters without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.

Tor is free and open source, allowing everyone to make use of it without cost, and providing the transparency of code that ensures its promises of anonymization can always be verified.

We at Renewable Freedom Foundation work directly with Tor core members, with numerous Tor support organizations, as well as with Tor relay and exit operators world-wide. We also offer a direct way of donating to Tor via European Bank transfer.